Protective pad for athletes.



W. L. GOLDEN. PROTECTIVE PAD FOR ATHLETES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 10,1913.

1,088,273. Patented Feb. 24, 19m

Inventor:

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COLUMIIA PuNoolArl-I ca..wumm'm:v. n. c.

'UTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER L. GOLDEN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO A. G. SPALDING & 1330s., 01? NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

PROTECTIVE FAD FOR ATHLETES.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER L. GOLDEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn of the city of New York, in the State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Protective Pads for Athletes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

This invention relates to pads intended particularly to protect bruised or abrased portions of the skin of an athlete from further injury through blows or rubbing and thereby permit the injured spot to heal naturally.

The improved pad is designed primarily with reference to its use by baseball players whose thighs have the skin continually bruised through the sliding of the player into bases in a substantially prone position.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a pad of the character indicated which shall be inexpensive to manufacture, readily adjustable to fit diiferent players and permit it to be secured fixedly on a player over the bruise, and afford adequate protection to the bruise from further injury through rubbing or blows, while at the same time leaving the same freely exposed to the air so that it may heal naturally.

The invention will now be described in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 shows a ball player having one of the improved pads fixed in position on each thigh, the pads and their securing straps being shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view in perspective of a pad embodying the present invention. Fig. 3 is a view taken on the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and showing particularly the adjusting devices for the suspension straps of the pad.

The pad as it appears in Fig. 2 will first be described in detail and its application to a wearer and the protection afforded thereby can be then better appreciated. The pad itself comprises a body portion a of felt or other suitable cushioning material and may be of any general form, although as this description proceeds it will be evident that a rectangular shape is best adapted for the securing of the pad to the body. Within the center of the body portion a is formed a cir- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 10, 1913.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914. Serial No. 800,081.

cular, elliptical or other opening a which is of suflicient size to insure free access of the air to the bruised portion and prevent pressure dlrectly on the bruised portion by the body of the pad. In other words, when the pad is placed in position the bruise will lie wholly within the opening a, the thickness of the pad being quite appreciable and sufiicient, of course, to prevent contact between the bruise and the ground, as when the player slides, or further injury to the bruise by blows of any description administered to the body of the pad. In the embodiment illustrated herein'the padis shown as ap .plied to the thigh of a ball player, it being suspended by means of two straps b passing through suitable lugs a secured in spaced relationship along the upper edge of the pad. One end of each strap 32 is fastened to a friction buckle 0, while the other end, after being passed through the lug a and between cooperating strips 0 and c of the friction buckle, is secured slidably to a belt d, which may be secured about the waist of the wearer by passing the free end through a buckle d of any approved type, this buckle preferably lying directly on suitable padding 6Z2 secured to the belt 02, whereby possibility of injury through contact of the buckle with the skin of the wearer is averted. Adjacent the lower edge of the body portion a of the pad and preferably toward one of the side edges thereof is fastened a leg strap or band 6, which may be of elastic material, and the free end of which may pass through a guide loop 6, also secured to the body of the pad, the leg strap being provided with cooperating buckles e and straps 6 whereby the tension of the strap on the leg may be varied and when desired, the pad placed on different wearers having legs of different sizes. 1

A description of the method of adjusting the pad to the thigh of the wearer can now be comprehended readily. The leg of the wearer on which is the bruise is passed through the leg strap 6 and the pad a slid upwardly until the opening a therein lies directly over the bruise; The friction buckles c are then slid upwardly or downwarclly by means of the tabs 0 until the length of the suspension straps b is such as to permit the belt at to be fastened about the waist at the usual point. The securing straps e of the leg band e may then be passed through and fixed in the buckles e in the usual manner, the band being drawn sufficiently tight to hold the pad in fixed position with respect to the bruise. It will be observed that with the pad secured tothe leg in this position, the bruised or abrased spot is exposed to the air and so may heal naturally while adequate protection is given to it from rubbing, as when the wearer slides along the ground, and from blows on the pad, the movements of the wearer are unencumbered and the weight of the pad and its fastenings is so negligible that no inconvenience is experienced during its use.

I claim as my invention:

'1. A protective pad for athletes comprising a cushioning body portion provided with i an opening therein, a band carried by the and means whereby the length of the straps between the pad and the second named band may be varied.

2. A protective pad for the thighs of athletes comprising a cushioning body portion provided with an opening therein, the body portion being of substantial thickness to prevent injury, an elastic leg band secured at one end to the pad and provided at its other end with fastening straps, buckles to cooperate with the straps whereby the leg band may be secured adjustably about the leg, suspension straps fastened to the upper edge of the pad and provided with slidablefriction buckles to vary their length, a belt slidably united with the straps whereby the relative positions of the straps on the belt may be changed and means whereby the belt may be secured removably about the waist Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G." 

